What Is the Difference of Faucet Water and Spring Water?

According to ACNielsen, Americans spent close to $9 billion on bottled water in 2003. The belief that bottled water is healthier than regular tap water is driving the sales, according to a Today show report. Among the types of bottled water is spring water. American government regulations have specific regulations that differentiate spring water from tap water.

Source

• Spring water is obtained from underground geological formations. The water flows from the formation to the surface of the earth without manual intervention. Faucet or tap water is obtained from a municipality's water source. Municipal water sources, called watersheds, can be any geologic formation that collects water.

Collection Methods

• In general, collection methods vary from manufacturer to manufacturer when bottling spring water. However, in order to label water as spring water, manufacturers can only collect the water at the spring from which it flows or through a borehole that taps into the spring. Faucet water collects at the watershed and flows to treatment facilities through pipes.

Features

• By law, treated spring water must have all the physical properties, composition and quality of the original water from the formation. Tap water sources, treatment and properties vary from municipality to municipality, but all adhere to Environmental Protection Agency guidelines.